T-Buckets, why all the hate?

[BluLightning]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

I would have one.

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

This calls for a blog poll!

[milkovich]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?




The bathtub body street freaks not so much.

[HoosierGTA]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

I used to love those fad T's the more crime and brass the better. Then. One day I moved next door to a guy that had one .Went next door when he was working on it.plywood floor and nothing but 3/8 ' of fiberglass betwen me and the next car.Just a pretty rat rod. If I built one it would have a funny car cage.

[Schtauffer]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

Maybe if the floor pan was less than a foot from the ground, the body was stretched so you could sit in it like a more modern car, and it was sitting on a tube chassis with a decent handling suspension.

Then maybe.

They are the non-hot-rodder's hot rod.

[BOOOGHAR]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

i had the privilege of riding in the back of a rental car with brian and chad and they had this same discussion, thinking about it im busting out laughing thinking of it - lets see if chad chimes in ;D

[William Wilson]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

I really want to build one.

Right now me and some friends are in the bench racing/math phase.

Our initial plan was to scrounge through a junk yard until we had the majority of the needed parts.

Engine, trans, rear and other bits and pieces.

However lately we've been talking about getting a truck cab and just building something sportyish around it.

Something like Shorty but with more ground clearance, and maybe a mild chop.

Mind you some days when we're all broke we talk about dropping a S10 on a full sized truck frame and sawzalling until we had a T styled thing.

But all of our ideas revolve someway around the theme behind a T-bucket.

[studemax]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

NOT a T-bucket.
A lowboy.

[ford141]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

I was never a huge fan of them, even as a kid. I like cars with full bodies and nice lines, not tons of chrome bolted to a couple of rails.

BUT, about 2 years ago I ran across one at a car show. Normally I wouldn't even glance at one, let alone stop and really look at it. This one was different, though. Very little chrome, , and it was a little worn and beaten. As I looked it over a little closer, I realized it had a warmed over 460 Ford motor with a manual trans, and it was dirty with chips and scratches. I struck up a conversation with the owner and found him to be a really cool guy, not like most T-bucket guys. He built it from spare parts in his garage for very little cash, and drove the thing a lot. He even stressed that it was NOT a show car, and that he had only stopped at the show to look at the other cars and wanted a better parking spot. He only stayed long enough to look at the other cars and then left. He had also mentioned while it was pretty hairy to drive, he was working a lot on suspension setup and tuning to make it safer and easier to drive, since that's what he built it for. It was a little different from the typical T-bucket too, since it had proper tires on the front with 4-wheel brakes.

I have a lot of respect for that guy, and for the car he built. He wasn't trying to impress anyone, and wasn't out for the WOW factor, just trying to have fun on a budget. Other than that one T-bucket, I could really care less.

[TC]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

You've never gone for a ride until you go for a ride in a T-bucket with a blown big block. It is one HAIRY RIDE!!!!!!! :o :o :o

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

You've never gone for a ride until you go for a ride in a T-bucket with a blown big block. It is one HAIRY RIDE!!!!!!! :o :o :o

I think I can imagine it.... I drove a friend's blown SBC 'bucket.... I now know what a rock feels like in a slingshot ;D

[starterguy]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

I think they are cool, i would build one but I don't fit them anymore :P I got a ride in one years ago, a local rodder built one in the seventies, one of the first Total Performance kits. It had a decent 427/th400 combo in it and I thought we were going to take off :o.
He drove the car well into the eighties before he took it off the road for a rebuild, he must have had 50,000 miles on it because there were pictures of it everywhere.

[oldschoolcamaro]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

T-buckets are friggin cool !!!!! ;D

[68 Valiant]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

NOT a T-bucket.
A lowboy.

or a T-bucket with a turtle deck ???

[Scott Liggett]

Re: T-Buckets, why all the hate?

I ve driven two. The first was built from a kit in the '70s. It had a tunnel rammed 350, tons of chrome, giant rear tires with bicycles up front. It had the vertical column. It also drove like shit at anything above 50 mph. Turns out the front suspension was the problem. Either it was a bad design or a poorly built setup, or both. The bicycle tires only amplified the problems. Probably why many T's get big tires up front.

The other was a pro built bucket built in the early '80s. It had a tri carbed 302 sbf. The column was angled. It drove great and was a ton of fun. The big top was a handful to get on and off. It had huge blind spots on. It was strange that the owner who had it built hardly drove it.

Like any other car, some are all show and no go. Some are just really badly engineered and built. Some are tasteful and some are gaudy.